Tottenham Hotspur

Real Madrid¬†have reportedly told Arsenal they will sell midfield target Luka Modric for a fee expected to be around ¬£53million.

The former Tottenham man looks set to become of the highest-profile departures from the Bernabeu this summer as Real look to cash in on his value while they still can.

The Croatian star¬† – who made his name in the game at Tottenham – turns 33 in September, but the reigning European champions are confident the player can still command a ‚ā¨60million fee (¬£53m) this summer.

It’s claimed by Marca they have informed suitors they are willing to sell Modric – just as soon as they have brought in a like-for-like replacement.

Modric, who moved to Madrid from Spurs in 2012, has been a key figure for the European champions over the past few seasons.

He is considered by many at the Bernabeu as an example of the perfect midfielder, but with age now against him, it’s reported they are ready to cash in.

Madrid want to find someone similar to Modric in the transfer market as they believe they do not have anyone else with a similar profile in their current squad.

According to reports, Arsenal lead the chase for the midfielder, while Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma are also keen. However, they appear unwilling to meet the ‚ā¨60m price tag and it appears Arsenal look to have a free run at signing the former White Hart Lane favourite.

Another week and more VAR controversy as¬†Son Heung-Min’s goal was disallowed in the FA Cup, while Jamie Vardy was a lucky boy, all in Ref Review.

Refereeing decisions are regularly the source of debate among fans, pundits, players and managers so this season a five-strong TEAMtalk panel will be passing judgement on every red card (or avoidance of one), every penalty and any other major incident every matchday.

We‚Äôll also decide on a weekly basis which side can consider themselves lucky and which was the easiest decision for a match official to make.

Charlie Adam red card v Everton

Even allowing for the shocking weather conditions it‚Äôs difficult to make a case against the dismissal of Mr Adam on the half hour against Everton on Saturday. The Stoke man flew in on Wayne Rooney with his studs showing and even Boss Paul Lambert conceded afterwards: ‚ÄúIf you go in with the studs in the modern-day game you put yourself in a position to be red carded.‚ÄĚ Ref Martin Atkinson had a great view of it and didn‚Äôt hesitate in producing a red.

Verdict:Correct decision

Crystal Palace penalty v Huddersfield Town

An invaluable away win for Palace this and the points were all but sealed after Andros Townsend was taken out by Mathias Jorgensen after a great run. It was a stonewall penalty, duly converted by Luka Milivojevic to give the Eagles‚Äô survival bid a massive shot in the arm.

Verdict:Correct decision

Tottenham disallowed goal v Swansea City

Another FA Cup tie, and yet another VAR controversy. Spurs’ South Korean star Son Heung-Min thought he had put Spurs firmly in the driving seat after firing home with a spectacular effort after a ball over the top by Christian Eriksen, only for the effort to be flagged for offside. It was a really marginal decision, and close enough for Kevin Friend to consult VAR. Again the replays were hardly conclusive, with opinion divided as to whether Son was offside or not despite numerous replays. It also threw up another question. What would have happened if the VAR had conclusively shown that Son was onside? The goal, surely, could not have stood, because Swans ‚Äėkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt had stopped playing once the whistle had been blown? In this instance the officials erred on the side of caution and stuck with the original onfield call.

Verdict:Correct decision

Southampton penalty v Wigan Athletic

Wigan‚Äôs Dan Burn brought down Manolo Gabbiadini with the latter through on goal during Sunday‚Äôs FA Cup quart-final and while there was no debate about the award, some pundits felt the Wigan man might have also been sent off. What saved Burn however was the fact he made a legitimate, if clumsy, attempt for the ball. Great call by the referee.

Verdict: Correct decision

Jamie Vardy clash with Cesc Fabregas

VAR was again called into action during Sunday‚Äôs FA Cup clash between Leicester City and Chelsea when Cesc Fabregas complained to Craig Pawson that Vardy hit him in the face. In real time it was clear that Vardy aimed a swing in the direction of Fabregas and we feel it was an act that merited a booking at least. Amazingly the VAR didn‚Äôt see anything untoward despite the benefit of several slow mo replays.

Verdict:Incorrect decision

Team most likely to feel brassed off award

Tottenham

It may seem a bizarre choice given how comfortably Spurs won in the end but their players, and boss Mauricio Pochettinho, were clearly perplexed by having to wait for more than three minutes for a definitive decision on the Son offside. It‚Äôs clear that waiting more that a few seconds to find out whether a goal should stand risks killing the mood. But three minutes in the freezing cold? The Spurs boss didn‚Äôt hold back afterwards either as he said: ‚ÄúIt‚Äôs a nightmare. I feel so sorry for the people trying to use that system. I think I prefer it when the ref and assistant make mistakes than to wait three or four minutes for things.‚ÄĚ

Stonewall decision of the week

Southampton penalty

The spot-kick was eventually saved in spectacular fashion by Christian Walton – and you will not see a better save all season by the way – but the decision to award the penalty was one hundred per cent correct.

Tottenham are sitting on a potential profit of ¬£316million for Harry Kane and Dele Alli, according to a new study, while the former is worth more than Lionel Messi.

The CIES Football Observatory has calculated that England striker Kane, brought through the ranks at Spurs, would be worth more in profit to the north Londoners than Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

The number crunchers have worked out the 50 players in the ‘big-five’ leagues – England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany – with the most positive gap between their current transfer value and the fee paid for them by their clubs.

Homegrown Kane, 24, is worth an estimated ¬£173m (‚ā¨198.2m) to Spurs while Messi, who also cost Barca nothing, would command a fee of ¬£172m (‚ā¨196.8m ), according to the Football Observatory algorithm.

Messi’s value is reduced due to his age. The Argentina superstar will be 31 in June.

Alli, 21, cost Tottenham an initial ¬£5m from MK Dons in 2015 and has a potential added value of ¬£143m (164m euros).

France striker Antoine Griezmann would be worth a ¬£138m (157.6m euros) profit to Atletico Madrid, although that figure does not take into account his reported ‚ā¨100m Euro buy-out clause.

More from Planet Sport: McIlroy returns to winning ways; Tiger back with a bang (Golf365).

Manchester United are poised to launch a shock ¬£70million raid on Chelsea this summer, while Arsenal have been handed a big lift in their pursuit of former Spurs star Luka Modric, according to Monday’s European papers.

MAN UTD TO BRING IN CHELSEA STAR AS SHAW REPLACEMENT

Some of those Spanish newspapers love a good transfer story and Monday’s¬†Don Balon is no different.

They claim Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has agreed a shock ¬£70million deal with former club Chelsea to sign Spanish wing-back Marco Alonso this summer.

They claim the former Bolton and Sunderland man is being chased by Barcelona, but with finances tight at the Nou Camp, it is United who look set to win the race to sign Alonso.

According to the report, Alonso only earns ¬£90k a week at Stamford Bridge, but has been promised a huge pay rise by joining United, with the club set to make him an ‘offer he can’t refuse’ to make the move north.

It’s claimed Mourinho has identified the Chelsea man as his No 1 target to replace the struggling Luke Shaw, and wants the Spaniard ahead of other targets Ryan Sessegnon, Danny Rose and Alex Sandro.

There’s no mention of the fact the Blues would be loathe to lose one of their most consistent stars to United for the second summer running, but it certainly makes interesting reading and one would assume any sale of Alonso would finally give Chelsea the green light to finalise their own long-standing interest in Juventus star Sandro.

AND THE REST

Real Madrid will definitely sell Luka Modric for ‚ā¨60m (¬£53m) this summer – with Arsenal leading the chase – just as soon as they bring in his replacement (Marca)

Shaka Hislop and Alexis Nunes assess the performances of Chelsea and Southampton, who'll square off in the FA Cup semifinals alongside Man United and Tottenham.
Eric Dier has said Tottenham Hotspur will not gain an advantage from playing their FA Cup semifinal against Manchester United at Wembley, their home ground this season.
Spurs reached their 21st FA Cup semifinal with a 3-0 win at Swansea on Saturday and Dier's teammate Jan Vertongen has said playing at Wembley will "definitely help" their quest for a first trophy since 2008.
Mauricio Pochettino's team are unbeaten in the league at the national stadium since a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea in August and their...

MOURINHO CAN’T BE TRUSTED TO SPEND MORE OF MAN UTD’S MILLIONS

Jose Mourinho has made it very clear that if Manchester United want to challenge rivals City for the Premier League title next season then they will have to spend, spend, spend – yet again.

Wonder if it has ever dawned on him that if you sign the right type of players in the first place and work to make them better than it might just save the club a few quid and also – potentially – your job.

Mourinho came out fighting after United’s Champions League exit at the hands of Sevilla last week, going on an incredible 12-minute press conference rant that did not make a massive amount of sense, while he has also started digging out individual players for criticism.

Since arriving at Old Trafford in the summer of 2016, Mourinho has spent ¬£295million to try and restore United to the Fergie ‘glory days’, and while trophies have been won the gap to City has grown even larger since Pep Guardiola arrived at The Etihad.

United have at least been more consistent in the league this season but the brand of football is getting more and more negative and it is becoming more evident that the players are not enjoying the way they are playing under the Portuguese tactician.

Mourinho has brought in seven players since his arrival and you can only really argue that two of them have been successful thus far – Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku.

The fall-out between Paul Pogba and Mourinho is there for all to see, but for the club’s record signing to say that he can only be truly effective in one specific midfield position seems crazy when the club have forked out so much to get him back to Old Trafford.

Mourinho has not managed that situation at all well but that one cannot all be thrown at the manager’s door.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has been and gone without anyone really seeing how good a player he could have been – perhaps Arsenal will give us the answer to that conundrum, while Eric Bailly looked good when he first arrived but has been hit by injuries and also made some glaring errors at the heart of United’s defence.

The less said about Victor Lindelof the better. Let’s just leave it at ¬£30million and just 12 Premier League appearances this season.

And finally Alexis Sanchez, who looks completely and utterly lost in Mourinho’s system and does not suit his style of play in anyway shape or form.

The Chilean has turned from one of the Premier League’s most dangerous attackers into a misfit who constantly gives up possession and now has virtually no threat to his game.

So why exactly would United trust Mourinho to spend another ¬£200-300m this summer?

Not only that but from the outside looking in, would any of the world’s top talents be itching to play for Jose – especially when he has taken to criticising players on an individual basis again and is seemingly sending his team out to play safe rather than express themselves.

This is a testing time for United and for Mourinho himself, but the way things are heading it could all get very messy very quickly if he doesn’t wind himself in a bit and find a formula that will be keep everyone at Old Trafford happy.

COULD THE FA CUP SAVE CONTE?

It wasn’t pretty, but they did it. Chelsea eventually got past Leicester in extra time on Sunday thanks to goals from Alvaro Morata and Pedro in what was not their most convincing of performances.

Morata scored for the first time since Boxing Day to give Chelsea a half-time lead, but Jamie Vardy equalised 14 minutes from time to force the additional periods at the King Power Stadium.

And Pedro headed in as the Blues ended a five-match losing streak away from home to reach the last four, where they were drawn to face Southampton.

Conte’s Chelsea of course succeeded Leicester as Premier League champions last term and also reached the FA Cup final, losing to Arsenal.

The competition represents the Blues’ final trophy chance of an at-times tumultuous season after their midweek Champions League exit at Barcelona.

The omens appear good. They had beaten Leicester in all five prior FA Cup meetings and the last three times – in 1997, 2000 and 2012 – they went on to lift the trophy.

As positive as that sounds, it has not been the best of campaigns for Conte’s side.

Constant speculation that the Italian will leave Stamford Bridge either by being removed from his position or simply because he favours a move back to Serie A or the Italian national team job haven’t helped the overall stability at the club after what was one of their more memorable seasons in 2016/17.

Chelsea sit in fifth place too, five points away from the top four, something which may be a result of the uncertainty surrounding Conte, or may simply be a reflected of the fact they over-achieved last season.

The Sun stated last week that there is a possibility that the Italian could still be at the helm at Stamford Bridge come next season.

However, their report claimed that it will only happen if he stops complaining to the club‚Äôs board about their transfer activity (or lack of).

Conte has caused friction with the Chelsea board after publicly questioning their commitment to bringing in top players.

Is there a chance that he could stay? Well, it likely won’t be his decision. Surely the bare minimum for him to keep his job, when considering his spending, would be to win the FA Cup and finish in the top four somehow.

Are either of those achievable? They¬†should¬†reach the FA Cup final, and who knows what could happen then, but can anyone really see them winning six more points than Spurs between now and the middle of May?

It has shades of when Louis van Gaal thought he could save his job at Manchester United by winning the FA Cup in 2016. Sure, it’s a nice theory to suggest that winning a trophy per season is enough to keep owners happy, but in practice we know that the biggest trophy is Champions League football.

LIVERPOOL MUST MAKE EARLY MOVE FOR ALISSON

Avid Serie A viewers will have taken some pleasure in seeing Roma join Juventus in the last eight of the Champions League this past week.

While the capital club lack the experience and class of Juventus, they have proved a tough side to beat having eased through a group that contained Chelsea and Atletico Madrid. Having just edged Shakhtar to reach the quarter-finals they were paired with Barcelona…. many will feel this will be the end of the road for Roma, and while that may well prove the case, the clash will be far from the forgone conclusion many are expecting.

In many ways, the Roma side can compare to Manchester United. Second or third best in their respective top leagues, but with one very familiar thing in common: one of the world’s best in goal.

If David De Gea is lauded as the world’s best (and who are we to argue), then the Roma custodian cannot be too far behind.

Aerially dominant, a fine shot-stopper, good distribution – Alisson has it all – as his whoscored observations point to.

It certainly makes sense for Liverpool to get the deal done early if they can. While any move for the Brazilian is likely to represent a world-record fee for a keeper, getting it done now could save them millions. With a clash with Messi and co on the horizon and a World Cup just months away, Alisson has a real chance to raise his profile even higher. So agreeing a deal for him now – before that fee escalates a little more – makes perfect sense.

Aside from rival interest from PSG and Real Madrid, the biggest danger to Liverpool tying up an early deal might be themselves and the shrewd move they made last summer in tying up the Mo Salah swoop early in the window.

Roma obviously won’t want to be stung by the same club twice – and that could ultimately prove their downfall. An alleged ‚ā¨80million offer for the keeper might seem like a huge offer now, but might we see his fee higher if Roma can hold out…?

Liverpool will certainly hope not, but get this deal done and we may just see the Reds transformed into genuine title contenders next season.

SEXY FULHAM HAVE IT ALL¬† – BUT KEEPING PRIZED ASSETS COULD PROVE TOUGH

It’s now 17 Championship matches since Fulham last lost¬† – and while their first 45 minutes against QPR on Saturday showed exactly why they’re the league’s form side, it will feel very much like two points lost as the visitors fought their way back to draw 2-2.

Yet despite Saturday’s setback, sexy football is most definitely back at Fulham.

During their unbeaten run, the Cottagers have dispatched of fellow promotion contenders Wolves, Middlesbrough, Cardiff, Derby and Aston Villa with relative ease – and, but for their slow start to the season, would surely be sure-fire bets to go up now. It’s that kind of form that made Saturday’s collapse – the Cottagers had led 2-0 after 42 minutes – even more surprising.

Nonetheless, you’d back¬†Slavisa Jokanovic’s side to overcome this and it’ll likely take something special to prevent this particular corner of south-west London celebrating a Premier League return this season.

Beaten in the play-off semi-finals last season, it seems last season’s heartbreak has galvanised Fulham. There’s a steel about this side, but in the mix there’s also some huge talents of whom they’ll do well to hang on – regardless of whether promotion is achieved or not.

The talents of Ryan Sessegnon have been well documented and despite his tender years, must be considered an outside bet to earn a call-up to the England squad this summer. Earning his corn as first a left-back, then a left wing-back, the player – this week called up by England U21s for the first time, now operates on the left side of Fulham’s attack. He’s a talent, make no mistake, and the ¬£35million links to Man Utd, Spurs and Liverpool look fully vindicated. The boy will only get better and already looks a polished performer despite still only being 17.

In midfield, Tom Cairney has used the disappointment of early rejection by Leeds to blossom into one of the division’s finest performers. He has a wand of a left foot and it’s easy to see why Newcastle tried – and failed – with a ¬£20m bid last summer.

If Fulham don’t go up this season, we will certainly see Cairney, now 27, in the top flight next season.

In attack, Aleksander Mitrovic’s arrival from Newcastle in January has reaped fine rewards – and the goals he has scored have proved vital. Signing him on a permanent deal in the summer will be of top priority to the Cottagers.

But while these three grab the headlines, the likes of Ryan Fredericks, Lucas Piazon, Tim Ream,¬†Stefan Johansen and Marcus Bettinelli have all been solid and consistent performers.

But the one asset they’d arguably be most loathe to lose would be Jokanovic. The Serbian was cruelly dispensed of way too soon by Watford where he impressed and led the Hornets to promotion. After the heartbreak of last season’s play-offs, Jokanovic and Fulham look well placed to go better this time around. He’s tactically astute, has good contacts, plays football the right way, and most importantly gets results. With or without Fulham, Jokanovic will be Premier League bound before too long.

Shaka Hislop and Alexis Nunes assess the performances of Chelsea and Southampton, who'll square off in the FA Cup semifinals alongside Man United and Tottenham.
Alvaro Morata's first goal in 14 games and Pedro's header in extra time helped Chelsea overcome Leicester and book a spot in the FA Cup semifinals.
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Cédric handed Mark Hughes a dream start to life as Southampton boss, as the Saints saw off Wigan to reach the FA Cup semifinals.
Nemanja Matic provided a goal and an assist to Romelu Lukaku to move the Red Devils on to the FA Cup semifinals.
Jose Mourinho criticized all but Nemanja Matic in his side for their lacklustre performance, in United's 2-0 FA Cup win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
Antonio Conte shares his overall thoughts on Chelsea's response at Leicester, Alvaro Morata's long-awaited goal and what he expects from Southampton in the FA Cup semifinal.
Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino reflects on a thorough FA Cup victory at Swansea, Michel Vorm's saves and the depth of his squad.
Christian Eriksen talks about Tottenham's strong display and explains just how much he loves playing against Swansea City. Manchester United will face Tottenham in the FA Cup semifinals, while Chelsea were drawn against Southampton.
The semifinal draw, for games that will take place April 21 and 22, took place immediately after Chelsea saw off Leicester City 2-1 in extra time in the last of the quarterfinals on Sunday evening.
United will have the added challenge of facing Tottenham at Wembley, where Spurs have played all of their home games this season while waiting for the completion of their new stadium.
Before the...

Christian Eriksen talks about Tottenham's strong display and explains just how much he loves playing against Swansea City.
Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino reflects on a thorough FA Cup victory at Swansea, Michel Vorm's saves and the depth of his squad.
Jan Vertonghen said Tottenham have an FA Cup advantage with the semifinals being staged at their temporary Wembley home.
Spurs cruised into the last four of the competition for the second consecutive season by winning 3-0 at Swansea City on Saturday.
"It definitely helps us because we have played well there," Vertonghen said, knowing that Spurs will be in familiar surroundings in trying to win their first silverware since the League Cup in 2008.
"We've beaten some big teams there and had some very...